1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for monitoring the interaction between a rider and a horse, and more particularly, a method and apparatus for determining forces exerted by the rider on the animal and simultaneously and remotely monitoring the forces for use in instruction and training.
2. State of the Art
Various methods and systems exist for measuring and monitoring sports and other physical activities. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,679 to Carlin discloses a system for sensing and displaying the occurrence and magnitude of ground reaction, or shock, forces produced by a participant in a sporting event. The system includes sensors which sense the vibration in the participant's leg, the vibration being proportional to the ground reaction force. The data from the sensors is collected and processed by a computer which produces a register tape printout showing graphically stride contact for each leg at a point in time and a numerical indication of the associated ground reaction force.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,628 to Furlong, which discloses a device for monitoring contact between an athlete's shoes and the ground for use in judging race walking, a sport which requires that at least one foot be in contact with the ground at all times. The soles of the shoes are equipped with sensors which sense whether the shoe is in contact with the ground. Signals from the shoes are combined and transmitted to a remote monitoring device which produces an alarm if contact is not sensed in at least one shoe.
Equestrian sports, which include horseback riding, dressage, show jumping, and thoroughbred racing, among others, are unique among athletic events in that the equestrian sports require that a human and animal perform as a single unit. The rider, sitting on the horse, must control the animal by communicating commands to it, and must continually respond to the performance of the animal with new commands. The rider's commands are given both verbally and, more importantly, through physical contact between the rider and the horse, that is, by whip, by reins, by pressure from the rider's legs, and by shifts in weight in the saddle. The physical commands range from forceful to subtle shifts, pulls and pushes.
The intimate and continuous interactive relationship between the rider and horse gives rise to difficulties in examining, testing and understanding the various, and frequently complex, skills necessary to achieve proficiency in horseback riding. The problems arise, at least in part, from the lack of an integrated system to measure and quantify directly the interplay between the rider and the horse, and allow an instructor to simultaneously receive the measured data.
The conventional methods of teaching riding suffer from various disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the riding instructor cannot directly quantify the interaction between the rider and the horse, that is, the force or pressure applied by the rider on the reins and by his legs. Typically, an instructor standing beside the ring or track observes the rider's body position and the performance of the horse, attempts to interpret those observations in terms of movement or performance of both the animal and rider, and, based on the visual observations and interpretations, provides instructions to the rider.
The information received by the instructor is incomplete in that it is derivative of the actual interaction between the rider and horse. That is, the instructor generally sees only the result of the rider's interaction with the horse and not, for instance, the actual application of pressure by the rider's knee. Furthermore, the instructor's view at any instant in time is partial because of obstructions, for example, the instructor can generally only observe one side of the horse at a time. Because the movements and interaction between the rider and animal are complex and often subtle, the instructor may misinterpret the horse's performance and provide the rider with incorrect instructions. In formulating instructions, the instructor has no way to quantify the instructions, for example, how hard to pull or push, or to monitor whether the rider is implementing the instructions correctly. As a result, the instructor must rely on a trial-and-error methodology of continually providing instruction and observing the outcome, a method which is not only time consuming and inaccurate, but may slow the learning process and be frustrating for the student rider.